Boeing workers going on strike after 96% vote for walkout

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Boeing (NYSE:BA)’s U.S. West Coast factory workers voted on Thursday to strike for higher pay, halting production of the planemaker’s strongest-selling jet as it wrestles with chronic output delays and mounting debt.

The workers’ first strike since 2008 will start at midnight Pacific time on Friday (0700 GMT), just weeks after new CEO Kelly Ortberg was brought on in August to restore faith in the planemaker after a door panel blew off a near-new 737 MAX jet in mid-air in January.